


Recollection

by InfluentialDebauchery



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Brutality, Character Turned Into Vampire, Emotional Manipulation, Genetic Engineering, Memory Alteration, Multi, Other, Recovered Memories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 06:58:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7257121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfluentialDebauchery/pseuds/InfluentialDebauchery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dr. Hugo Strange has a new pet project and he has become overly attached to it. This new creation is everything Hugo has ever dreamed of culminating into one being. All the while he has no idea what Ed is up to and how his interference will shatter Hugo's ambitions.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recollection

**Author's Note:**

> This will be updated at various times when I am able to do so.

The endless screams of a thousand tortured souls pierced the ears of Hugo Strange's latest patient. Every shriek wormed it's itchy way to the brain.

Hugo's passive face broke into an ecstatic grin and he had to rein in his urge to clap like a fool.

He watched as his new child slowly became aware of their existence and a swell of pride filled Hugo's heart.

"Ah, fantastic, you are awake!" The clipboard Hugo had been holding was shoved towards Ms. Peabody and he moved closer to his latest creation, "Please don't fret, Daddy is here!"

Peabody rolled her eyes as she witnessed Hugo go through his Father charade for the umpteenth time. There seemed to be no end to this catastrophic obsession of his; Hugo's ridiculous need to be loved by any means necessary.

"Where am I?" A whisper light voice asked Hugo.

The scheming doctor had to strain to hear the question, "Ms. Peabody! My daughter is absolutely parched. A glass of water please."

As Peabody took her sweet time to get the patient a drink; Hugo answered the question, "A safe place my darling Moriah."

"Moriah?" The girl asked as if the name sounded wrong on her lips.

"Yes, Moriah Pendley." Hugo countered trying to sound more convincing. "A nineteenth century American vampiress who was severely injured and entombed for eternity."

"I'm a vampire?" This didn't make sense to her either and her violet eyes squeezed shut in an attempt to remember, "Why can't I -- Ow!"

Something sharp had pricked her skin and drowsiness greeted her like a warm blanket, "It's alright Moriah. Everything will come back to you soon. You're still healing and need to rest."

Peabody had just entered the room with the water; she witnessed Hugo injecting 'Moriah' with a sedative.

"Well that was certainly fast. I thought you would want to tinker with her like all the others." Peabody handed him the glass anyway.

"Moriah is a different case entirely. I need her to remain sweet and charming until I can meld that disposition with a vampirically feral one." Hugo swept black tresses of hair from Moriah's face and then stood from the stool he had been seated on. "She will be a masterpiece. The ultimate femme fatal of my Gothic fairy-tale."

"If you say so." Peabody said in her usual tone of disinterest.

"I do say and mean so." Hugo replied as he moved past Peabody, "Please have Moriah moved to the room I have setup for her."

"Anything else?"

"She will be treated with the utmost respect and care at all times."

"You mean like a spoiled princess?" Peabody's upper lip curled back in disgust.

"Exactly." Hugo flashed his assistant a toothy grin and nearly waltzed out the door.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"Have you heard?" One of the residential whackjobs began to gossip in the rec room, "Its about the new patient."

A few of the more lucid crazies gathered around to listen in and the designated rumor mill continued on.

"Yeah. I heard some of the orderlies talking about this chick on the eighth floor." The man licked his cracked lips as he paused, "They said she's sexy as fuck, but-um-but she's not human."

Ed who had been half listening paused mid-paragraph on a newspaper article he had been reading. His day suddenly went from being ho-hum to interesting.

If Ed hadn't been privy to the extracurricular activities in the basement; he wouldn't have been inclined to believe this juicy tidbit.

"Do you know exactly which room on the eighth floor?" Ed asked feigning bored interest and not even looking up from his paper.

The patient who was gabby moments before started to wearily clam up, but not before muttering, "809."

Ed tossed him an extra cookie he had pocketed during the condescending 'snack time', "Thanks for the info."

"Don't mention it." The man said as he hurriedly bit into the cookie. Which translated to - 'Literally. Don't mention it.'

Ed folded his newspaper as he smiled and began plotting how he would visit this 'sexy-as-fuck-not-human-chick' that night.

How ironic it was that Ed could leave his room unnoticed anytime he pleased, but he couldn't actually leave the property of this God forsaken place.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Moriah had finished showering and dressing for bed; in front of her vanity mirror she sat and brushed out her damp hair.

Unlike her father's other children - Moriah was considered special - she had everything she could ever want and soon she would be free from confinement.

Violet eyes gazed over the mirrored image of perfection that was Moriah, but when they stopped at her throat...

A scar ran across her ivory neck like a cruel smile. The marring of her flesh reminding Moriah why she was in hiding.

Dr. Hugo Strange had discovered her body during a remodel on his home and was shocked that Moriah had even been alive!

So he researched Moriah through underground channels and discovered she had been a victim in a raid by vampire hunters. As a horrid joke they maimed her and bricked her up in a wall.

Moriah owed the continuation of her unlife to Hugo and gladly took to thinking of him as a father. She would do anything he asked of her; even participating in his odd experiments.

A knock resounded on her room door and Moriah's stomach grumbled in anticipation. She nearly felt ashamed at how her body responded to her feeding schedule.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The air vents Ed had learned to navigate were surprisingly spacious, but were difficult to navigate to the upper floors. Yet not nearly as bothersome than getting back down from the higher floors. Either way the uses created a distracting amount of noise.

He had luckily found the vent leading to her room on the first try and peered onward curiously. Ed became quickly jealous at what he saw.

There was a canopy bed with dark linens and the canopy curtain was pitch black. A writing desk on one side of it and an antique vanity on the otherside; small bookshelf crammed with tomes across the room.

Ed's focus fell upon the dark haired beauty who was brushing her showered locks. She wasn't what he would consider 'sexy as fuck', but the girl was a far cry from unattractive.

As Ed continued to watch he had to keep from jumping when someone knocked on her door. The girl rose from the vanity's bench and answered for a guest she seemed to have anticipated.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"Moriah." Ms. Peabody acknowledged her patient and gave her a forced smile, "Is that a new nightgown I see?"

The young lady twirled around not noticing the man studying them from the air grate. Moriah spun about, her black silk nightgown billowing around her, and falling down like an ink spill.

"Daddy bought it for me." Moriah told Peabody casually, "He said every other color horribly stains when I eat."

"Perhaps your 'daddy'," Peabody nearly dry heaved saying the word, "should buy you a bib as well."

"Or...Daddy should get lackeys who respect him and mind their own damn business."

It really wasn't a secret how much Ms. Peabody despised Dr. Hugo Strange. In a twisted sort of way Peabody respected Hugo, but that did not mean she had to like him.

Since Peabody couldn't outwardly show her true emotions towards Hugo - she methodically took it out on the patients - not even Hugo's 'children' were spared.

However Moriah wasn't afraid of sinking barbs into Peabody in retaliation. Most times she took blatant routes in doing so.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Ed unconsciously smirked at the gaul Moriah had to go up against Peabody. Even if Hugo's assistant wasn't all that fearsome on her own; due to being chained to that idiot doctor. Ed shuddered to think what she could accomplish unshackled.

But his mind was now stuck on what Moriah was being fed. More than likely it was something full of blood. What else would soil clothing to the point of replacement?

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"I have brought your dinner." Peabody said hurriedly; wishing to finish the conversation. "I hope you enjoy Thai."

A man with a bag over his head and bound arms had been shoved into Moriah's room. Before he could scramble to his feet the door was closed and bolted from the outside.

The sounds of Peabody and orderlies could be heard retreating down the hallway.

"Ms. Peabody knows there's not a difference in taste ethnicity wise..." Moriah ripped off the bag covering the man's head, "However...age is a different factor entirely."

The Thai man would have screamed if his mouth weren't taped shut.

The purpose of the bag was more to keep his identity from the other patients; than keeping him from knowing where he was going; the poor guy wasn't ever leaving there alive.

"I would promise that you're going to feel a simple prick." Moriah straddled onto his wriggling back. "But that would be a lie."

Moriah gave a little cry as her fangs elongated and the unknown man let out a muffled shriek as he was bitten.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

From his secret window into Moriah's room; Ed watched with morbid fascination as Moriah began to feed on the stranger.

Moriah's eyes remained closed as she suckled at the weeping wound and Ed studied every minute expression Moriah made.

The young vampire's euphoria increased the longer she fed; at one point her eyes opened to blissful slits and Ed gazed into burning scarlet orbs.

A drastic change from their normal violet hue and the former medical examiner's mind whirred with questions.

Who was Moriah really? Ed knew that Hugo wiped all his slates clean and created new identities for them.

How did Hugo manage this vampiric transformation? Fish was an exceptional example of gene splicing and so had been Ed's former room mate...Ed cringed as he remembered being lunged at and cowering in a corner.

Yet the million dollar question remained - What did Hugo have in store for Moriah? He obviously held her at a higher standard than the others and lavished Moriah with gifts.

Perhaps Hugo planned to use Moriah as a Trojan horse. The innocent look hiding ambiguous sexual prowess, ladylike demeanor, and underneath it all; awaited a viciously fanged demise.

Hugo was boxing his present clever.

But to whom would he be gifting Moriah?

Moriah was clearly devoted to Hugo and showed signs of a developing Oedipus complex towards her father figure.

Daddy issues at their finest? That would be left to be seen.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"I know you're there." Moriah gasped as she released the drained corpse and wiped her lips with her arm, "Will you be brooding there the whole night?"

There was a tinkling laugh from Moriah as she almost heard the man come to a decision.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Ed had to force his heart to start working again and his mind raced with what he should do.

On one hand Ed knew he should get the hell out of there and figure out what to do with this information.

On the other hand Ed wanted to learn more about this development and what he could personally glean from Moriah.

Maybe she was his very key out of this place.

"I came to inspect the source of flurried rumors." Ed tried to inject as much confidence as he could into his voice.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"Rumors? About me?"

The girl kicked at the dead man's body and sent him rolling to the door; he stopped with a resounding 'thump'.

"I guess my existence would cause a stir." Moriah said matter of factly.

She daintily walked to her bed and plopped down; causing her bed to lightly bounce. Moriah leaned towards her dresser and pressed a button on it.

A nurse's voice answered in response over a small intercom, "Yes Mistress Pendley?"

"I need my tray taken away."

"Right away Mistress Pendley."

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

An orderly who had earlier escorted Ms. Peabody arrived at Moriah's room. He promptly gathered up the deceased Thai man and left quickly; all without uttering a word to Moriah.

Ed noticed how none of them - Peabody or the orderlies - lingered more than they had to around her.

Which might be an order from Moriah herself or there was something about the girl herself; that activated a fight or flight response.

Ed's must have been broken because he was compelled to draw closer to Moriah instead.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The young woman watched with fascination as screw after screw fell from the vent grate. When all of them were removed, the plate was steadily popped out, and a man clambered into Moriah's room.

She stared as he went from a crouch and stretched as he stood upright. He dusted himself off and adjusted his glasses.

Then his eyes connected with hers and Moriah felt a mutual surge of recognition. They were both predators and they both exuded dominance.

However this man's was double edged and barely a noticable spark in his eyes. You had to know how to spot it to see it.

What was he hiding?

Moriah had a sense that she wasn't getting the full portrait of the visitor in front of her.

"Who are you?" She asked as the man broke eye contact to look about.

"Edward Nygma. You are Mistress Moriah Pendley?" Ed could feel her eyebrow quirk without directly looking at Moriah. "I overheard everything being said."

Moriah almost snorted with dry laughter. His name was Edward Nygma? E. Nygma (Enigma)?

How odd and ridiculous.

"I am not concerned with your eavesdropping, but what you saw is a different matter entirely." Moriah fixed him with a serious expression. "Daddy will not be pleased with me and I enjoy being his favorite."

The finger Ed had been using to trace across book titles abruptly stopped. He had to keep his cool and twist this to his advantage.

Ed noticed most of the texts were about vampires, hunters, and self defense.

"Dr. Hugo Strange sent me to safeguard you from hunters." He turned and flashed her a brilliant grin.

Before Moriah could argue with him; Ed interjected and her doubting face turned to a contemplative pout.

"I am an expendable asset, but if I prove my worth in your protection. Then I get my freedom when your properly integrated into society."

The last bit was a longshot, but Hugo had a track record of letting projects out into Gotham.

It would be surprising if the quack didn't do the same with Moriah. Especially since she seemed impressively normal; barring what Moriah truly was.

"I think you're a deceitful sack of shit, but you interest me." Moriah stood up and walked towards Ed. "So if you can keep me entertained and not get me in trouble. I will allow you to live."

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Not many people shook Ed up with their words anymore, but the emphasis Moriah put on 'allow' - made his stomach involuntarily clench.

Moriah also hadn't bought his lie and that got under his skin. Usually Ed had a silver tongue and could speak his way out of most things. Not with this girl.

That could pose a future problem.

"Entertain you how exactly?" Ed readjusted his glasses again and awaited her response.

Though he did wonder what she meant. Because that was a loaded task depending on what Moriah wanted from Ed.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

"For now talking is fine." Moriah sat down on her bed again and motioned for Ed to sit on her vanity seat. "I want to know about the outside world of Gotham City."

"Right now its going to hell in a handbasket. All sorts of factions feel like they have a claim to Gotham." Ed gave a low chuckle as he remembered his slight participation, "I bet the current brawl is glorious."

Moriah played with the hem of her nightgown, "Daddy refuses to tell me anything about the outside world."

"How old are you?" The question came out before he could really think about it. "If you don't mind me asking."

The young woman pouted for a moment before answering, "Outwardly I look sixteen, but really I am much older than that."

"Because you're a vampire?" Ed asked with a little smirk.

"Yes. You ask that as if you're seeing I actually believe I am one. Which I am." Moriah gave him a warning glare, "Your tone and face were condescending."

"My apologies Mistress Pendley."

"You aren't being remotely funny."

Ed chuckled again out of nervousness and spite, "You might be a 'vampire' now and I use that term lightly. Because quite frankly its the only explanation currently available."

He watched as Moriah's glare became more potent and he wondered if he should back off. Except Ed couldn't stand to see a fallacy not of his own creation and do nothing to rectify it.

"However, you *are* sixteen and not a year older. You weren't made a vampire hundreds of years ago or whenever Hugo is making you believe it happened. He made you this way."

"Get out." Moriah seethed through gritted teeth, "Or I will have dessert."

"Did I puncture a nerve Mistress Pendley?" Ed laughed as he moved out of the way of her lunge. He crawled back into the vent, "I guess we will call it a night?"

The grate lid was slammed back into place and Moriah angrily twisted the screws in.


End file.
